Chapter 24

"we've got younger faces than our hearts are letting on"
- novels, rusty clanton

One year later

"Are we clear?" Annabeth asks.

A spark of static shoots through her earpiece. "Your target is headed towards the Ferris Wheel," the girl on the other end says. Annabeth still doesn't know her name. She thinks it might be Chlöe. Or Colette. Whatever. "CS has left her and is headed towards the toilets."

"Any leads?"

"Not at the moment. Jonnie is trying to get some. Have you got all your resources?"

Inconspicuously, Annabeth starts rootling through her handbag, under the guise of searching through her phone. Her fingers land on her can of hairspray (the taser), the chocolate bar (the tracking device), her lipstick (corrosive acid) and her knitting, which is not disguised as anything except a distraction to help pass the time when she has to wait two bloody hours in a coffee shop for her target to finish her damn conversation with a person Annabeth knows she doesn't even like.

Honestly.

"All of them," she says.

"Excellent." There's a pause. "Nice scarf."

"Shut up."

It's not a nice scarf. It's puke green and pink.

"I'm going in," Annabeth mutters. "Keep an eye out. Have you got into the cameras yet?"

"Just did."

"Awesome. Make sure I don't die."

"Don't bet on it."

Annabeth tugs her shawl over her head and starts moving towards the Ferris Wheel.

She's currently on a mission to take down a girl with a weapon. She had first caught wind of it on the train, when her metal detector disguised as a hairbrush started vibrating like crazy. She had followed the girl off the train and then to a fairground, where she is currently. She had texted a random Society girl to get on her earpiece pronto, and then had ordered all her little fifteen-year-olds around, telling them to hack into this security camera and put a track on that girl.

Normally, she'd have someone with her, because knife crime was no laughing matter, especially since the girl looked barely older than Annabeth. But no one was capable enough yet, because everyone back at the Society were still in training. They were all around fourteen/fifteen enough – certainly not skilled enough to take down a criminal. They've slightly toned down the lessons ever since Annabeth's rather wayward mission to be normal went haywire, because they reckoned that if they kept the younger in-training spies with an IQ level that was only slightly over average then no one would want to kidnap them because they knew things. There are twenty-year-olds back at the Society with less expertise than Annabeth, even though she's only eighteen.

And Annabeth is grateful. She really is. She doesn't want anyone else getting hurt because of her, and ever since she first moved to Oklahoma she hasn't been threatened or stalked by anyone. Which is a hell of an improvement from when she was back in Georgia.

But– sometimes it's hard.

She got transferred around a year ago, and she hasn't seen Piper or Thalia since. She hasn't seen anyone since, really. Even all her talks with Chiron have been video calls. And it's not a particularly bad thing at all, because she's safe. She's being taught how to become a better spy (they haven't toned down her lessons, because she's already above average even for a spy, and at this point dumbing her down really won't do anything since she's still got plenty of people who are after her) and all of her practicals are good and safe and helpful, where she's out in the field but she's being protected.

But she would be lying if she says she doesn't miss the thrill.

She misses everything. Even Lois.

Yes. She misses Lois. She subconsciously touches the fried ends of her hair, where the bleach still hasn't completely grown out yet. She still misses Lois, still misses being Lois. Yes, it was dangerous and scary and every day was terrifying because she was in love with a boy who didn't know the girl behind the prosthetics and hair dye and she had a serial killer walking her school halls, but it was also so brilliant because every night she came home to her best friends in the whole world and at school she would hold hands with her boyfriend under the table and cram for tests during lunch and fib about her homework and she just misses it so much.

"Annabeth?" her earpiece hums.

She blinks out her reverie. "Sorry, just thinking. I'm moving in."

"We've got a visual. Be safe, Chase."

Annabeth doesn't answer.

Her target is a lithe svelte Latina with long dark hair in a braid and a purple T-shirt. It took her almost no time to find out that her name was Reyna Avila Ramirez-Arellano, and that she had a sister called Hylla who was also with her. Hylla seems to be oblivious to the weapon in Reyna's bag (Annabeth still can't tell what it is), but she is making it almost impossible for Annabeth to approach her because she simply won't leave. She had very quickly earned the nickname Clingy Sister (thus CS).

However, if what Cleo/Carla/Cathy had said was true and she is headed towards the toilets, that means that Annabeth has Reyna alone for a good five minutes at least. She juts her jaw and starts heading over.

However, just as she's moving in, she sees someone else start to head in. Reyna is waiting patiently in line, and Annabeth's eyes widen in surprise as she sees a girl around their age begin to power walk towards her. She's very good at making it look innocent and innocuous but Annabeth has been trained for fifteen years on how to read people. She's tense but she's very brave in the way she's walking.

She must be an accomplice. Annabeth's eyes narrow. She doesn't know the extent of Reyna's abilities with whatever weapon she has in that bag but bringing another person into it only makes the game more dangerous.

She quickens her pace.

She sees that the girl has noticed her, because even from far away she can see the firm set of her jaw. She tightens her stance and almost starts a light jog, which. That's cheating. They're walking, for goodness sake. Running is not allowed.

Annabeth presses her mouth together.

You know what, screw it.

She starts to sprint.

At this point, she really doesn't give a damn. Her plan is to tackle Reyna to the ground and keep her in position with her own gun (which, yes, she has tucked somewhere amidst her tampons and spare change) and then when getting pulled off show them her FBI badge. Because she has one of those. The Society is closely tied in with the FBI, so every spy has one because every admittance into the Society goes through the FBI.

And look. She knows she's supposed to be keeping a low profile, but her target has got an accomplice and if she doesn't get the first down quick enough then they'll be able to communicate and cause who knows how much havoc.

"Agent Chase!" Cathleen/Kira/Caitlyn says urgently through her earpiece. "What– what are you doing? You're drawing attention to yourself!"

Annabeth ignores her.

She is nearing Reyna. Reyna still has her back turned so she can't see her, but right before she jumps and brings her to the ground she suddenly gets hit from the side and is pushed down to the floor.

"Stay down," a voice orders in her ear. "Or I'll have the police on you and then you'll be in trouble."

Annabeth gasps. She knows that voice.

With all her strength, she bucks herself upwards and twists around so she's lying on her back. Her attacker is still straddling her but now they're staring each other in the eyes and Annabeth nearly cries because if hell she doesn't recognise that face.

Piper blinks down at her in shock. "Annabeth?"

Annabeth nearly bursts into tears right there and then. "Piper!"

Piper scrambles off her, grabbing Annabeth's hand and hauling her upwards. Some people are giving them odd looks, which Annabeth supposes is sort of reasonable because Piper did just tackle her to the ground in the middle of a family carnival, but she ignores them, instead staring at her best friend in the face. She hasn't changed that much since Annabeth last saw her, which was a year ago right before her plane left, but her face has matured and her hair is longer. Annabeth thinks she's going to cry.

"What are you doing here?" she cries. "I thought Chiron had flown you guys back to Georgia!"

"We'll talk later," Piper promises. "However, right now we've got a girl with a gun about to get on that Ferris Wheel and if we're not careful someone might die so after we've taken her down we'll have a chat, how's that?"

"Yeah– I mean, yes, absolutely."

Annabeth feels herself beginning to slip back to the old Annabeth. She and Piper have never directly fought side-by-side on the field, but their old dynamics have barely changed and just looking at her almost brings all of it back. It's utterly ridiculous and Annabeth thinks she's dreaming.

Then she feels a hum in her earpiece.

"Is that–?" Colleen/Cassidy/Kayla squeaks. "Is that Agent McLean?"

"Not now, girl."

"Sorry!"

Her voice is an octave or two higher than normal. Annabeth decides not to mention it.

She and Piper head towards the Ferris Wheel. Reyna is dangerously near the front of the line, and Annabeth begins to pick up her pace. If Reyna gets on that wheel it could be the end for a whole lot of people.

Next to her, she feels Piper begin to start to run.

They reach the front of the line just before she's about to get on. Annabeth is just about to pause and ask what their game plan is, until Piper starts climbing over the ropes separating the line from the rest of the crowd and tumbles into Reyna's arms, throwing her own arms around her neck. "Oh, Reyna!" she cries, pulling away. "There you are, we've been looking for ages!"

Reyna steps backwards, watching her with wary eyes. "Who– who are you?"

"Come on, Alice is waiting for us," Piper says, grabbing her hand and pulling her away from the ride.

Reyna shakes her hand free. She looks incredibly confused. "No, what the hell? Who are you?"

"Are you gonna get on the ride or not, lady?" the man working the wheel asks boredly. "You're holding up the queue."

"I'm really sorry, but she's gonna have to skip this one," Piper says apologetically before Reyna can get a word in edgeways. "We've been needing to head home for a while. Come on, Reyna. We're meeting Alice by the gates."

Reyna is so shocked that she allows herself to be dragged away. Annabeth watches anxiously. She knows that in a matter of seconds the surprise will wear off and she'll fight Piper off, and by the way Piper is only loosely holding onto her wrist it won't be hard to break free.

She jogs up to them just as Reyna begins to come to her bearings.

She wrenches her arm free and stares at Piper. "What are you doing?" she snaps. "What– who even are you?"

Annabeth knows that Piper is about to get socked in the face if she doesn't act soon so she comes up from behind and grabs Reyna's arms. Reyna yelps in surprise and tries to wriggle free but Annabeth has a firm grip, and she takes her wrist in one hand and twists it so it's pushed up against her back.

"Move," she says against her ear, "and I'll break your arm."

Reyna trembles. "What's going on? What are you doing with me?"

Piper digs her wallet out of her jeans and flicks it open, showing her FBI badge. Reyna stills in Annabeth's arms, and Annabeth takes the opportunity to wrestle her backpack off her shoulder and drop it by her feet, opening it and digging through it, trying to find her gun.

"We're part of the FBI," Piper says pleasantly. "Agent McLean, pleased to make your acquaintance." She shoves her wallet back in her jeans. "We received a notification that you were in possession of an illegal firearm, and the fact that you're trying to bring a gun into such a public, open space is rather dangerous, especially when surrounded by innocent families." She beams at her. "Guns may be legal here in the USA but when you've covered the bullet in– what was it, Agent?"

Annabeth holds the gun to her nose. Reyna trembles as she feels its coldness against the back of her neck. "Poison," she says.

"Thank you, Agent. You have covered your bullets in lethal poison, which endangers many if not all members of the public. So we are putting you under arrest, if that's quite okay."

Reyna sighs. "You can't be serious."

Piper blinks. "I'm sorry?"

"You nitwits, I'm also part of the FBI."

Annabeth loosens her grip. "What?"

Reyna shakes out her arms and brings out her purse, showing them her own FBI badge. Annabeth and Piper stare at it. "That's why I've got a gun, you idiots," she says, unimpressed. "I had been anonymously tipped off that there was a terrorist in this fairground so I tried to track them down." She snaps her purse shut and glares at them. 'I just wasn't aware that I would have two idiotic FBI agents tracking me as well."

In Annabeth's earpiece, Cat/Cassandra/Casey sighs. "Oh my God."

Piper blinks. "Oh."

"Yeah. Oh."

Self-consciously, Annabeth rubs her arms. "Um. Sorry for grabbing you like that."

Reyna gives her a look. Annabeth stares sheepishly at her shoes.

"So, um." Piper bounces lightly on the balls of her feet. "Are you, uh– in the book club?"

Reyna blinks, unimpressed. "You mean the Society?"

Piper balks. "You can't– you can't say that in public!"

"Yes I can. It's not as if anyone knows what it is."

"Still!"

Reyna ignores her. She adjusts the waistband of her jeans around her hips. Annabeth watches her enviously. She's very pretty, she realises. Annabeth has managed to turn her own squish around her hips to muscle from all her training back at the headquarters, but the softness of her stomach and thighs from eating so much cake back in New York won't be going anywhere anytime soon. "Well, I am," she says. "I'm based in Puerto Rico, normally."

"What are you doing in the US?"

"Is that any business of yours?"

Annabeth watches her. She can tell instantly just by the way she moves.

Reyna catches her. "Quit it."

"Sorry."

It's too late. They both know Annabeth has already found out too much.

"Well." Reyna grabs her backpack from where Annabeth had dumped it on the ground. "I must be off to make sure this bomb threat isn't actually real. And please, for the love of God, don't go following me again."

She stalks off, her backpack slung over one shoulder. They both watch her as she disappears in a crowd.

"God, what a cow," Piper says.

"A very attractive cow."

"I suppose."

They wait in silence.

"Oh, she is, isn't she?" Piper says unhappily. "What a bottom."

"Where are you going, Annie?" Samantha asks.

"You're not going out, are you, Annie?" says Deborah anxiously. "Oh, you know you can't!"

Annabeth zips up her sweater. Samantha and Deborah are lovely, except as teenage girls they do a great deal of gossip and as spies most of their gossip circles around the latest news, most of which is still about Annabeth. Her story as Lois and how she shot down a building to kill the man who was responsible for the deaths of many Inner Circle children spread like a wildfire, and even a year later it's not stopped. Annabeth's kind of sick of it.

"I won't be long," she says.

"Kate said that you bumped into Piper McLean in your mission last week," Samantha says. "Is that true, Annie?"

Deborah gasps. "You're not going to sneak out to meet her, are you?"

Annabeth presses her lips together. "Don't tell Chiron."

Samantha giggles. "I won't!"

"We promise, Annie!"

It's no use. Annabeth knows they will anyway.

Nonetheless, she shoves her feet in her shoes and heads out the door.

She's meeting Thalia and Piper in a café down the street. As far as she's aware Chiron doesn't know, although he most probably does, because he's in charge of the spies' schooling and Annabeth doesn't hesitate to believe that Katie (finally, she knows her name) spread the news of her bumping into Piper on her mission as soon as she could. Chiron probably put two and two together.

Whatever. She's been isolated for a year. She deserves some fun with her best friends.

She heads down the street with her hands in her pockets. If she closes her eyes hard enough she can almost imagine she's Lois again, going to meet P– her boyfriend at the park for a date.

Don't think of his name. Don't think of his name.

She hasn't let herself think of his name for a year. She can't. It hurts too much.

She pushes the door open of the café. It's dark and it takes her a moment to adjust but as soon as she looks properly she can make out a head of dark hair sitting at a table with another figure who's sitting too far in the shadows to see properly.

Annabeth rushes over.

"Piper!" she calls. She can't be bothered with code names. Who even cares anymore.

Actually, well. Probably a few people.

But not her. Not today.

Piper looks up, and beams. "Annabeth!"

Annabeth flings herself at her. It's not the first time she's seen her, but it's the first time she's been able to relax – in her arms, it feels like coming home, because she smells like New York and stale bread and ten-dollar budgets and Annabeth feels her eyes begin to fill with tears because she's missed her so much.

When she pulls back, she sees Piper's beginning to cry too.

"Oh, you soppy thing," she chokes out, and Piper lets out a watery laugh.

"I've missed you," Piper wails. "It's been too long."

"Always one for dramatics."

Annabeth takes her head away from Piper's collarbone to look at the other figure on the table and almost gasps.

"Your hair!"

Thalia laughs. "Nice to see you too, kiddo."

Annabeth squeals and rushes over, giving her a hug. Thalia giggles into her shoulder and Annabeth marvels at her new – and also bright blue – hair.

"You dyed it!"

"I did. Looks cool, innit?"

"You look great!"

"I know."

I know. Annabeth wants to laugh but also cry because she's missed them and she's not sure she can handle moving away again.

"What brings you guys to Oklahoma?"

"Chiron relocated us," Thalia says. Piper is too busy trying to subtly wipe away her tears with a napkin. "Said that we'd be safer here than in Georgia. Also realised that we were going stir-crazy locked up. Georgia's dead, man. Nothing ever happens there. We're apparently in danger so we weren't allowed outside and we were the only people under thirty there, so it was just us two. He said we could attend the Oklahoma Society instead so we'd be safer and also with more familiar faces."

Annabeth blinks. "Wait, so you're staying?"

Thalia nods triumphantly. "Yep!"

"Oh my God."

Piper starts to cry again. "This is so cool."

Thalia rolls her eyes. "Bloody hell, I set her off again. She's been crying all morning."

"It's because I'm excited!" Piper sobs. "I'm just– I haven't seen you in so long!"

Annabeth laughs. "I've missed you both too."

They talk for hours. Annabeth was only expecting a short visit and she'll know that at this point Samantha and Deborah definitely would have blabbed except she's just so thrilled to see her best friends again that she doesn't even care. They order one round of hot chocolate and muffins, and then a second, and then a third, and then Piper gets a forth and a fifth ("it's because I'm emotional," she explains, although at this point she hasn't cried for at least two hours. "I get hungry when I'm emotional.") and they talk and laugh and love and Annabeth almost starts crying again because she hasn't been this happy in what feels like forever.

It feels like coming home.

That is, until the door swings open and the bell rings. Annabeth would normally think nothing of this, until Piper suddenly pales and ducks behind her pain au chocolat and Thalia widens her eyes.

Annabeth subconsciously tenses. "What?" she asks, seeking out for a reflective surface. She's not facing the door so she can't see. "Luke?"

"Worse," Piper squeaks.

Thalia elbows her. "Piper!"

"Worse?" Annabeth demands.

"Only marginally!"

"Who?"

"Look."

Annabeth whirls around.

And of course. Of course it is.

Percy Jackson stands at the counter, looking at the boards behind the workers for what to choose.

Annabeth almost starts to cry again.

A/N i knowww im sorry its another filler chapter ahh

i did want to write more except i didn't want to keep anyone waiting for too much longer and i was out for a lot of today which is why it is a filler chapter, otherwise i would have extended it and not ended where i did. (believe it or not this took FIVE HOURS i know three thousand crummy words in five hours writer's block has hit me hard)

a big big thank you to rachel and helena rachel for being my number 1 supporter who motivates me to write and also helena for being an all round amazing person and for educating me on canada you guys are amazing and wonderful lOVE YOU PALS

ALSO thanks for 384 reviews! you guys are WILD i love you thank you to each and every person who has reviewed. this story only has a few more chapters so at the end i'll do a massive thank you to like every person who has ever reviewed so be prepared

as always i love you all, thanks for being amazing and sorry again about the filler! see you next week my lovelies xxxxx